Denver, CO
Renck: Von Miller will always be a Bronco, even if playing for Denver again unlikely
ASHBURN, VA. – Von Miller knew the answer. But he could not resist asking the question.
A free agent last summer, training camp approaching, Miller had not decided on a new team. Garett Bolles, in attendance at a Von’s Vision event in Colorado, urged his good friend to call the Broncos.
Von had not played in Denver since 2021. Russell Wilson had him on a group text with Chandler Jones in 2022, asking for him to return. Von wisely sidestepped that “disaster of a season,” signing with the Buffalo Bills as Denver added Randy Gregory.
Three years later, there was a new coach and new quarterback. Maybe the remodeling needed an old antique to complete the project.
Von picked up his iPhone and dialed general manager George Paton.
“When Garett brought it up, I was like, ‘Come on, man.’ You have Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper. But I started thinking, ‘You have all these people on the team and there’s not a spot for me? I know there probably won’t be, but let me check and see.’ I talked with George and I already had an idea how it was going to go. And that is exactly what he said.”
There was no room for the 36-year-old Miller, not with backups Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman capable of playing special teams. The conversation with Paton, the man who traded him to the Rams in 2021, was productive, but not for the reason he expected.
“It was more about me taking the steps to get into a front office. He knows I want to be a GM someday (a goal inspired and encouraged by Bills GM Brandon Beane),” Miller told The Post on Friday. “I am still happy I did it. That was this season. What about next year?”
Sitting below the No. 24 name plate — an ode to Champ Bailey and Kobe Bryant — in the Washington Commanders locker room, Von flashed that devilish grin, the one that appeared so often after his franchise-record 110.5 sacks with the Broncos.
Truth be told, he would “love to return” to the Commanders. Would like a “rain check” after a lost season because of a battery of injuries to stars, including quarterback Jayden Daniels. Daniels is why Von chose Washington over the Seahawks.
“Nothing against Sam Darnold, but it was Jayden Daniels. In my opinion, it was the best situation,” Miller said. “They were coming off the NFC Championship Game. And (coach) Dan Quinn had a plan for me as a veteran player. He gets it.”
Of course, nothing has worked out, save for Von delivering as an effective situational rusher. He has five sacks in 11 games. He wants a third Super Bowl ring. But he is also motivated to collect eight more sacks, and have his sons, Valor and Victory, gain a better understanding of what their dad does for a living.
That is why he fully intends to play next season. Get that number, and he will reach 142.5 for his career, ranking sixth all-time.
“Myles Garrett is like 14 sacks behind me, and he came into the league six years after me. I don’t want to make the top 10 and get knocked out,” Miller said. “I want to stay there for 10 or 20 years. So, yeah, I definitely want to play another year, and who knows after that?”
With Washington hosting the Broncos on Sunday night, Miller cannot avoid becoming nostalgic. He never wanted to leave, but knew his time was up after he called a captains meeting with coach Vic Fangio and Paton to discuss turning the season around and aiming for a division title.
“It fell on deaf ears. What I realized later is that we were were so far removed from that. That’s all I knew from playing with Peyton Manning. But we had guys who couldn’t relate. It’s hard to get somebody to miss something they never had,” Miller said. “I was talking about winning a Super Bowl, and they were like, ‘What? We are try to win a single game.’ ”
A few weeks later, Von was shipped out. He was surprised, the news bringing him to tears. He still wonders if he would have played his entire career in Denver if the Broncos had drafted someone like Bo Nix.
“We never had a quarterback for a lot of years. No one special or elite,” Miller said. “And Bo fell in their lap. And you’ve got him with one of the greatest minds in NFL history, Sean Payton. And they have Courtland Sutton, Troy Franklin, and Marvin Mims, and that offensive line is way better than what we had in 2015. This year’s team is special. And if Bo Nix continues to take those leaps.”
Miller catches himself. There he goes again. He cannot help it. When it comes to the Broncos, Von is a fan.
He spent a decade in Denver, morphing into a future Hall of Famer. He made mistakes, grew up before our eyes, became a father — his third child, a daughter named Virtue, is due in January — a leader and a champion.
“I constantly reflect back on those times. The orange and blue, that’s my squad, that’s my city. Broncos Country, those are my fans. I think they are the main reason I miss it,” Miller said. “Anytime I post something on Instagram, they comment, ‘Come back to Denver, we love.’ They are 90 percent of why I still love the Denver Broncos and why I will always root for them.”
Von will always be a Bronco whether he plays for the team or not. He can always sign a one-day contract and retire in Denver before heading to Canton.
Honestly, it is amazing Von is still playing. His legacy is secure.
But this season explains it. There is a fountain pen. Von sits in the front of meetings — “I am that guy now” — taking down every word. He wants to be challenged, even though the easiest thing would be to tip his helmet and walk off into a Broncos orange-colored sunset.
“I take more notes now than I ever did. I date it, put a timestamp on it. Man, I love everything about the sport, the locker room, the training room, the weight room, the film room,” Miller said. “I have been playing football for 26 years. This is my life. If I don’t have to leave, I am not going to.”
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Denver, CO
Denver Barkey scores first career goal as Flyers take down Oilers
Item 1 of 33 Jan 3, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers right winger Garnet Hathaway (19) skates on the ice during the pre game warm up as the Edmonton Oilers take on the Philadelphia Flyers before the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
[1/33]Jan 3, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers right winger Garnet Hathaway (19) skates on the ice during the pre game warm up as the Edmonton Oilers take on the Philadelphia Flyers before the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images Purchase Licensing Rights
January 3 – Denver Barkey’s first NHL tally highlighted a three-goal first period for the Philadelphia Flyers, who beat the host Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.
Travis Sanheim and Bobby Brink also scored in the first, while Nick Seeler and Owen Tippett each posted a goal with an assist and Sean Couturier added two helpers for the Flyers, who finished a 3-2-0 road trip. Dan Vladar made 22 saves for Philadelphia, which allowed 13 Edmonton shots on goal in the first period, but just 11 the rest of the way.
Connor McDavid extended his point streak to 15 games with his 25th goal of the season and Evan Bouchard also scored for the Oilers, who have dropped two straight and three of four.
Philadelphia made its mark early in the first period. Tippett passed the puck into the slot for a streaking Barkey, who beat Oilers’ Calvin Pickard (24 saves) for his milestone goal just 7:16 into the contest.
Barkey’s marker essentially set the tempo, as the visitors made it 2-0 with 9:29 left in the first when Sanheim beat Pickard from the right circle.
Philadelphia then extended its lead a little over four minutes later when an Edmonton turnover led to the puck deflecting into the net off the heel of Brink’s skate off a shot from Cam York.
Vladar, meanwhile, was solid by stopping 12 shots in the first period. However, he couldn’t prevent McDavid from scoring on a breakaway, which came off a Sanheim turnover in the neutral zone, with 3:52 remaining before the first intermission.
The Oilers made it 3-2 on the power play with 10:06 remaining in the second period. With an assist from McDavid, Bouchard unloaded a successful slap shot from the left point to give Edmonton at least one goal on the man advantage in nine of the last 10 games.
Philadelphia found some breathing room with 10:51 remaining in regulation off Seeler’s wrister for his first goal of the season. Tippett added an empty-netter as the Flyers scored at least five goals for the third time in their last six.
McDavid, meanwhile, has 14 goals with 22 assists in the last 15 games.
–Field Level Media
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Denver, CO
A franchise quarterback is vital to winning division titles
You might respond to this headline with ‘and water is wet’ and I wouldn’t blame you, but I was looking over the Denver Broncos history and how often they have won a division title. In their 65 years, the Broncos have brought home 16 AFC West division titles. That’s not very many, but given their first winning season was almost 20 years into it then it doesn’t look so bad.
The other thing I noticed is that only those teams who had a franchise quarterback type player under center did they repeat often as division winners. 11 of those 16 titles were won while John Elway or Peyton Manning were quarterbacking the franchise. Craig Morton won two backed by the vaunted Orange Crush defense of the 70s, but the rest were one-off division winners like Jake Plummer and Tim Tebow. Now that latter list includes Bo Nix.
The craziest stat that I found researching this topic was that all but one Broncos team that did not win the division were one-and-done in the playoffs. The lone team that wasn’t was that 1997 Super Bowl winning squad. Every single other team that finished second or third in the division and made the playoffs did not win a game once they got there. That doesn’t have much to do with the franchise quarterback topic here, but I found this little tidbit too interesting to not share.
As for the division winners, there were plenty of one-and-done seasons there too, but all of their playoff wins sans-1997 are also there.
The question I meant to get to sooner before going off on that side quest regarding the playoff outcomes was whether or not Bo Nix joins Elway and Manning or ends up with the Plummer and Morton’s of history of pretty good but not all-time great. A few playoff wins over the next month would certainly move the needle some before adding more division titles down the road.
Denver, CO
Denver police report increase in street racing arrests and citations in 2025
DENVER — Street racing continues to pose threats to Colorado drivers, so Denver7 looked into the trends we saw throughout 2025.
Denver Police report 80 citations and arrests as of December 17 for 2025. That’s 20 more than last year, according to Doug Schepman, director of communications for the Denver Police Department (DPD).
There is one strip of road in Denver we asked Schepman about specifically, after hearing from business owners that it’s particularly troublesome.
We’re talking about the 2000 block of S. Santa Fe Drive in Denver.
Michael Gray, owner of Discount Fishing Tackle, said it’s a weekly occurrence to watch or hear cars and motorcycles zip past.
“Recently, we’ve seen the kids on the motorcycles coming by with the front wheel in the air, going just as dangerous as can be, and especially dangerous because so many other people are going so fast on this road,” Gray said.
He said he’s noticed that as more turnoffs are removed and the spacing between traffic lights gets longer, more drivers tend to use it as their personal raceway.
“It doesn’t affect us really too much, but you don’t like to have something as dangerous as that going on all the time,” he said.
Schepman said patrol districts are aware that street racing occurs along this stretch of South Santa Fe Drive, and that officers are directed to patrol the area during periods when reports are more prevalent.
He adds that the community plays a critical part in helping investigators curb this problem.
The Colorado State Patrol said it has received more than 1,700 reports from the community this year.
You can continue to report street racing here.
Denver7
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Allie Jennerjahn
Denver7’s Allie Jennerjahn covers stories that have an impact in all of Colorado’s communities, but specializes in reporting on crime, corruption and ways to protect your family. If you’d like to get in touch with Allie, fill out the form below to send her an email.
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